Episode 16
Just a moment ago, someone was choked, headbanged, and then nearly forcibly summoned to be trapped for four years.
What the hell are these exciting real-time reactions?
"Everyone, shut up!"
Tossing aside even the minimum level of respectful language, I excitedly typed clack clack clack into the chat.
Me: No, you XXXs!
Me: So what, are you saying the user can't say a single word because they have to suck up to that Male Lead bastard?!
GM Ari: (Typing…)
Me: Stop pretending to type!
Instead of Ari, who was avoiding the question with the (Typing…) message, Sera stepped up to answer my furious question.
GM Sera: Hoobae. There is a saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
[ TN: Hoobae = Junior. ]
GM Sera: It is right to always treat the Crown Prince of the Empire with courtesy.
Me: You said that bastard is a Prisoner!
Me: That he was kicked out and exiled!
GM Jinu: If you can't pick up on this level of foreshadowing during a conversation, you're just a game-illiterate, right?
GM Jinu: Can't beat the ending, right?
I was speechless at Jinu's follow-up comments.
I had momentarily forgotten. Why this game was famous for being a buggy, flopped game…
Meaning, no matter how much Kassel is currently a Prisoner, his inherent pride as royalty is extremely high, so he must be treated accordingly.
It was, in its own way, a detailed historical accuracy, if you could call it that.
'They didn't give a rat's ass about the players who would be flustered.'
Those developers, so serious about their game's lore, were never sane to begin with.
Getting worked up over bastards like that was just a losing game for me.
It was when I was staring blankly at the chat window, having calmed down considerably with a pshhh.
GM Ari: Still, the Potion Quest branch point has passed now, so I think you can rest a little easier, Shari-nim!
Ari, who had taken refuge in '(Typing…),' spoke up again.
I didn't immediately grasp what that meant, but I soon realized one side of my vision felt empty.
The countdown window that had been relentlessly pressuring me for hours had disappeared.
It was probably because Kassel, having regained his strength after drinking the Health Potion I gave him, was now able to eat on his own.
'So it can work out this way, too…'
I'd lost one High-Grade Potion, but it wasn't a bad thing.
If not, I would have had to keep frantically running up and down the Tower, chased by the clock.
I should have been happy to have earned time to catch the Darkness-Eating Centipede sooner than expected, but I just felt bleak.
It was because, looking at the red sunset settling in the sky, I realized not even a full day had passed since I started this mess.
'It feels like I've already finished the whole Stop the Disaster quest…'
I had no idea how those two years I spent zoned out, living as an NPC, had passed so quickly.
Me: Sigh… Just tell me where the Darkness-Eating Centipede is.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Returning immediately to the castle interior, I crossed the spacious hall.
Perhaps because it was around sunset, the hall was empty, without a single servant passing through.
It seemed everyone was busy preparing dinner.
'They said the servants' dining hall.'
After hiding in a corner next to the central staircase's railing, I confirmed no one was around and carefully opened the chat window.
It was to double-check the location, as I still wasn't familiar with Count Hailey's estate.
GM Jinu: 1st floor, connected to the back of the west dining room.
GM Ari: Be careful, Shari-nim!
GM Ari: The Leader has noticed your presence, Shari-nim, and will try to attack.
Just as I was about to close the chat window after reviewing the conversation we just had.
I suddenly remembered something I'd forgotten and lifted my head.
'Wasn't it something about a Chandelier That Lost Its Light?'
The chandelier itself was so enormous that I could see it clearly even from my hiding spot behind the railing.
But unfortunately, I couldn't see the name, which was written as small as a mouse's tail.
An item I was seeing for the first time, one that even I, an operator, couldn't remember.
It wasn't urgent, but Ari's warning that the Darkness-Eating Centipede leader would try to attack was bothering me.
'There's no harm in finding out in advance.'
Me: By the way, that chandelier, what's it used for?
There was still some time left until dinner, so I took advantage of the intermission and asked immediately.
As if these people were watching only me all day, an instant reply came back in less than one second.
GM Jinu: Isn't this too much of a freebie?
Me: Well, considering who is responsible for all my suffering, I'm allowed to get a freebie.
Me: ----
GM Jinu: (Typing…)
Instead of Jinu, who was using his evasion skill, Sera stepped up again.
GM Sera: It is a hidden item that can be used when fighting the leader, hoobae.
Me: …Huh? I haven't seen anyone on the forums say they used that.
GM Sera: (Typing…)
The replies, which had been coming quickly until just a moment ago, suddenly stopped.
At the same time, thud, thud.
I sensed someone's presence above my head.
It seemed someone was coming down from the 2nd floor.
Me: Ah, what is it? I have to close the chat, so tell me quickly.
GM Sera: Well… because no one has discovered it yet…
GM Sera: We even added it specially during the 211 version upgrade to help!
GM Sera: Sob, foolish humans who can only see what's right in front of them!
GM Sera: Why does no one explore the map thoroughly…!
Click.
Having gotten the information I wanted, I closed the chat window without a second look.
'…No wonder. The font was unusually tiny.'
What player, busy just trying to complete the obvious given tasks, would bother to inspect a decoration hanging from the ceiling?
I only found it by luck because I was an operator checking the map.
'Hiding it at the size of a tiny dot and hoping someone finds it, what a fraud.'
Whether that crazy developer, who almost certainly planned this himself, was whining or not, closing the chat right away was absolutely the right move.
Thud, thud.
"...You, what are you doing here right now?"
Because the presence that had been coming down the stairs just now had, of all places, inconveniently, and insistently, stopped right in front of me, hiding behind the railing.
Adjutant to Count Hailey, Bill Kendlick
With parasitic-type Monsters, you couldn't tell if one was the leader until you killed it.
So there was no way to immediately confirm if the Adjutant was the leader.
The Potion Containing Sunlight I was using so handily was just a temporary fix, woefully insufficient for catching a high-level Monster.
So my plan was to identify the leader and then just secretly assassinate them around the time the quest ended…
"Why don't you answer? I asked what you're doing, hiding here like a rat!"
The Adjutant yelled, apparently displeased that I was just standing there blankly without answering.
If this guy was the leader, things just got pretty complicated.
If he's a key figure in the estate, it won't be easy to kill him while avoiding Adam's notice.
Annoyed by my game luck not playing out as I'd hoped, I retorted.
"Hiding? I was wandering around, looking for the servants' dining hall."
"From behind the railing?!"
"Because I took a wrong turn."
"What kind of nonsense is that…!"
The Adjutant bastard threw a fit, demanding to know what nonsense I was spouting.
But I just shrugged my shoulders.
'I said so, so what are you going to do about it?'
After huffing and puffing for a while, the guy finally glared at me with fierce eyes and spoke.
"Follow me. I'll guide you."
I wanted to believe it wasn't true, but it seemed highly probable that this guy was the leader.
I was walking down the west-leading corridor, following the Adjutant.
The guy walking ahead suddenly slowed down, fell into step beside me, and asked.
"Are you doing the job the Count assigned you well?"
"Yep."
"How many Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potions do you have left?"
"Well… enough to stop the disaster."
He wasn't a main character like Adam or Kassel, so I had no obligation to answer him faithfully.
Sensing my increasingly insincere attitude, the Adjutant scowled menacingly and glared at me.
"Tomorrow at midnight, bring all the remaining Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potions to the spot behind the central staircase's railing where you were hiding earlier."
"Tomorrow at midnight?"
It was an earlier rendezvous than I expected.
The lingering thoughts of the Monster sealed in the estate would naturally try to bring about a disaster.
This is because as the demonic energy grew stronger, and the humans protecting the estate died off, the seal would naturally be undone.
'This usually happens right before the disaster strikes…'
I felt like everything was progressing one step faster than usual.
But of course, the faster it progressed, the faster I'd reach the ending, so it was good for me.
As I was busy organizing my thoughts, my reply was lukewarm, and the Adjutant glared at me with a thoroughly frustrated expression.
"If you do as I say, I'll specially overlook the sinister deeds you were plotting in the Count's estate."
What kind of sinister deeds could I possibly be plotting just by hiding behind a railing?
His attitude, acting as if he could run to Adam and frame me at any moment, was absurd.
But I needed to grasp his scheme, at least roughly, so I didn't argue and calmly asked back.
"And then?"
"Hand over all the potions to me and leave. I'll make sure you're well compensated."
"Hmm… Need some time to think."
"It's money a runt like you could never touch even if you sold potions your whole life… Wait. You, why do you keep dropping your honorifics?"
To only notice that now, he was a dumber bastard than I thought.
'Do I really have to suck up to an extra on top of everything else?'
My mind and body were already frayed just from groveling to Kassel a little while ago.
We had just arrived at a corner of the dining room, in front of a door that presumably led to the servants' dining hall.
I stopped walking for a moment and gave the Adjutant my answer.
"You're telling me I can't speak informally. My feelings are hurt, so I reject your offer."
"Wh-What did you say…! You… Aren't you afraid of what I'll tell the Count? It would be nothing to frame a runt like you as a witch and have you burned to death!"
"Go ahead."
At my indifferent response, the Adjutant's expression instantly turned shades of red and blue.
As he huffed and puffed, black smoke crept out from his nostrils.
It was characteristic of someone possessed by a Monster's demonic energy.
'Is he going to attack already?'
Flinch. Just as I tensed up to prepare for the coming attack.
"Do I look like I'm kidding right now?"
Suddenly, the Adjutant twisted the corner of his mouth into a sinister smile.
Then he threw open the closed door.
A large pot and various dishes were set on the wide dining table, as if they had been in the middle of a meal.
In front of it, about a dozen or so servants could be seen standing at attention.
The sight of them all staring intently at me, their eyes dyed jet-black, holding forks, knives, and the like in both hands, was horrifying.
"I won't kill you right now. But if you don't do as I say, it would be good for you to personally experience what will happen. Keh heh!"
The Adjutant laughed sinisterly and shoved me in the back, toward the inside of the dining hall.
Well, if you're going to come at me like this…
"This is even better."
"...What?"
"Stun."
Lv.999 Stun skill has been activated.